A massive global outage has crippled operations for a wide range of businesses, including banks, airlines, telecom providers, broadcast networks, and supermarkets, rendering them unable to function online.

Major US airlines, including Delta, United, and American Airlines, experienced a system-wide ground stop on Friday morning due to a technical communication issue, CNN reports.

In Edinburgh, Scotland, passengers at the airport faced difficulties using automated boarding pass scanners as security monitors displayed a “server offline” message, according to Reuters and Sky News.

The UK’s Govia Thameslink Railway, which operates Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express, and Great Northern, reported widespread IT failures affecting their services.

Australia’s Telstra Group, a leading telecommunications company, also faced significant disruptions.

Sky News experienced a brief outage in the UK, leaving viewers without access to its broadcast. An on-screen message apologized for the interruption and assured viewers that transmission would be restored shortly.

In addition, AFP reports that three Indian airlines were hit by extensive IT disruptions, and a technical problem suspended flights at Berlin Brandenburg Airport. All Spanish airports also experienced IT outages, causing widespread travel disruptions.

The Guardian UK linked the widespread outage to issues with Windows workstations. Microsoft 365 users encountered difficulties accessing cloud-based apps on Friday, further compounding the global impact of the outage.

The disruptions have left numerous businesses and services struggling to maintain operations, highlighting the critical dependence on IT infrastructure in today’s interconnected world.